Is there such a thing as Hullness?  Is it possible to find the 'spirit' of a place in its streets and houses and open spaces?  And, if it is possible, what is the 'spirit of place' for Hull?

These are some of the questions that we have been trying to investigate. 

In classical Roman religion, the Genius Loci was quite literally a guardian spirit who watched over a place. Altars would be dedicated to the genius Loci of a particular locality to secure its continued protection. Today, the term is used to refer to a location's distinctive atmosphere or 'spirit' – but it is a spirit which can be hard to find.

Our work so far...

• The search for Hullness began in 2009 with a series of debates held in Arc's local landmark building in Blanket Row. To get the ball rolling, we asked an historian, an architect, a geographer and couple of psycho-geographer-photographers  to put their views forward. 
• We established our Hullness blog which shows some of the first responses to the project and to the idea of Hullness.
• We had a stall at the Princes Avenue VISTA festival in June 2010, where we re-launched Hullness. Take a look at our photos from the day.
• We completed a successful bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund and secured £50,000 to run Hullness in 2011.
• We have been working with English Heritage and local residents on a project focusing specifically on Beverley Road to identify the 'spirit of place' for the area, in order to build on the characterisation work already undertaken by Hull City Council. Read more about our Beverley Road-ness project.

Photo by the caravan gallery

"The Hullness project is of great benefit to the communities of Kingston upon Hull as the project goes in to the heart of the different communities themselves.

The project enables these communities to voice their thoughts and to identify things they see as unique and want to see preserved, rather than just something somebody thinks they want. Hullness gives ownership of the built environments and of the communities themselves back to the community in these changing times."

Tracey Henry

What's next...

But to really find out what Hullness means, we need to ask the people of Hull themselves.

A new phase of the project is taking place between now and April 2012.  We have assembled a team of volunteers to facilitate mini-debates around the city, involving local community and interest groups and the general public.  Ideas, opinions and memories relating to life in Hull will be collected and recorded in order to explore the meaning of Hullness.  The collated results will be displayed in venues across the city as part of a multi-site exhibition, then finally the outcomes will be archived and deposited as a public record with the Hull History Centre.

Arc is sure the answers are out there – but we need your support to help us find them.

How you can get involved...

• What is Hullness? We would like you to help by sending in your images and text of what 'Hullness' means to you.
  Text 'ARC' followed by your photo or message to 60300.  Submissions will appear on our online gallery, as well as contributing to a permanent archive and forming the basis of a major exhibition in 2011. Texts will be charged at your standard network rate.
  
  
• 'Hullness is...' Fill in our online questionnaire to share your thoughts on Hullness with us.
  
  
• If you or your organisation would be interested in taking part in one of our debates and tackling the subject of Hullness, please contact project manager Rachel Lee: rachel[ @ ]arc-online.co.uk
  
  
• Read our Hullness blog, or follow our activity on Facebook or Twitter
  
  
• Feel free to contact us if you have any thoughts or feedback in the meantime.

Students of Hull School of Art and Design chose 'Hullness' as their project to explore in a video journalism project: